Feeding the hungry in Angola's central highlands continues to be impeded by the poor state of the runway in the provincial capital Kuito and escalating fighting, aid workers told IRIN.

The suspension of the independent Radio Ecclesia on July 9 and the arrest of reporter Gilberto Neto is one of several recent attacks on Angolan journalists. Freelance journalist Rafael Marques reports from Angola.

At least 70 people were killed and 15 wounded when armed men attacked the north Angolan diamond-mining town of Chinguvu, close to the Congo border, Lusa reported on Monday. Quoting an unnamed military source who identified the attackers as UNITA, the news agency said about 100 rebels were involved in the Saturday assault on a residential area of Chinguvu. A number of local residents were taken away by the attackers.

In a letter sent to today to Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed deep concern about the murder of Alegria Gustavo, a journalist for the local branch of Rádio Nacional de Angola (RNA) in the central province of Huambo.

UNITA rebels on Wednesday announced the formation of five new teams designed to end their international isolation and to resolve the country's 26-year civil war, one of Africa's longest-running conflicts, Reuters reported on Wednesday. In a statement sent to Reuters in Johannesburg, UNITA said the co-ordinating commissions - covering political, administrative, judicial and military issues - were formed at the party's recent annual congress.